Warning! Google will delete your backup pictures, contacts, passwords if your phone is inactive

With the advent of technology now smartphones have much more storage space than before. However, with more data in these devices, people have started using cloud storage as a backup. This is more so because people are buying more mobiles than ever, and with ever changing technology every month a new phone brings in new features with them. But, did you know that if you change your phone and discard your old device, you may risk the chance of losing all your backup data? Yes, Google and Android will automatically delete your backup if you have not used your smartphone for more than 2 months. So, it’s time that we either transfer the pictures, contacts, documents and other data stored in our Google Drive or simply keep using the old device. Else, Google will delete the old data and you will not be able to access them ever again.

A user on social media website Reddit found out about the feature on Google and Android smartphones. The Redditer names ‘Tanglebrook’ said that he stopped using his old Nexus 6P device and started using the Apple iPhone a few months back. But when he reopened his Nexus device, he found that all the information stored there, including settings, wifi passwords, pictures, documents, and even 50 apps were removed. He even said that Google did not even inform his about the policy before deleting the data. The Redditor also informed about a Google’s disclaimer which clearly mentions this rule on Android mobiles. Interestingly, it is not just the Google Drive, even other cloud services like Dropbox have similar policies.

If we go to Google’s support page, we see a disclaimer (under ‘What happens when your backup expires?’), which reads as: “Our backup will remain as long as you use your device. If you don’t use your device for 2 weeks, you may see an expiration date below your backup.” As a response to tech website The Next Web, Google said that it shows an expiration date for the backup after an inactivity of 2 weeks.

It should be noted that the backup will remain as long as the user uses his/her device, according to Google. So, in order to save your data, you need to check in to your Google servers from time to time to keep it active.